Fever
by Pride of Ergastulum
Summary: Emma appears to have come down with a simple cold but when she collapses how will Nic react? Fluffy look at a flustered Nic showing his more gentle side.


Not even the rain pouring down on Ergastulum could wash the filth from its streets, the bloodstains of this city could never be washed away. But that's the way it was, in Ergastulum only the tough and smart survive, being part of the Families could offer some protection but for the ordinary citizens trying to live their lives it was best to keep as far as possible from the city's extensive crime network. Emma leaned back letting the rain fall on her face, enjoying the cool feeling on her skin, it had been a long day carrying out the Doc's usual Celebrer deliveries all over the poorer parts of the city, it seemed to have taken longer than normal with Nic and Worick discussing extra business with the Monroe family. That and the usual delay when Worick made deliveries to Big Momma, the wait outside the brothel was always the longest part of the day for her, "I wish I knew the city well enough to keep going with the deliveries while they went there," she thought, but even after two months the city's random layout kept getting her lost, and walking along rooftops was a little too conspicuous. She didn't like Big Momma, the brothel owner, she looked like a man, that and despite having kept her hood up and hiding behind Nicolas the old woman knew from the off that she was a girl, Emma refused to walk through the red light district without hiding her face, and the looseness of her clothes meant that passerbys could easily mistake her for a boy. So instead she spent the time leaning against the building opposite hoping for the others to return quickly, the first couple of times Nic had let her hold his sword while he went inside, Emma was glad that he did having the weapon made her feel more at ease, but now she brought her own, walking around in Ergastulum without it she felt too vulnerable even if it did draw a lot of attention, although walking around with Nic and Worick did that too.

At first it puzzled her why Nic went inside, it made sense as Worick sometimes used the place for his "other job" it made her shiver slightly, it wasn't her job to judge but sex itself was already an awkward subject in her mind, never mind making money off of it, then Alex told her about the Twilight girl lying basically comatose in a sideroom, she was the one Nic always visited without fail. Apparently her name was Veronica, a Twilight woman who had lived and worked with the Handymen long before Alex had arrived on the scene. Alex was nice and very pretty, Emma had to admit to herself, but Alex had her own problems too so she didn't want to bother her too much, "I guess no one in this city isn't at least partly screwed up," she thought bitterly.

Stepping absentmindedly in a puddle her foot sank into it ankle deep sending spray everywhere, "Ah, ah cold," immediately leaping out the puddle Emma shook the excess water from shoe, then she felt someone grab her by the scruff of her neck lifting her from the ground. "Ow!" she cried squirming in Nic's strong grasp, then she saw that some of the muddy water from the puddle had splashed onto his new jacket, Oops! She gulped, "Sorry Nic! I didn't mean it honest," raising her hands in surrender she saw that Worick and Alex had gotten splashed too.

Worick's eyebrow twitched in anger as he glared at the girl caught in Nic's grasp, "This is my good shirt you idiot," his quiet voice betraying his anger, "Oh yeah Friday," Emma remembered silently cursing, "he must have worn it for work," looking over at Alex, Emma saw with relief that she was trying to hold back laughter, they were already drenched to the skin from the rain, her splashing in a puddle wouldn't do that much damage. Worick never stayed angry for long but he was worse than a woman when it came to his clothes, it wasn't that she didn't like him, but his main profession kept her wary of getting too close to him.

"I am really sorry Worick," she laughed nervously, still trying to escape Nic's grasp, his fingers were starting to dig in to her neck, "I'll do all the washing today and I'll go do the shopping or get dessert or something to make up for it!" At the mention of dessert Nic dropped her, not ungently, back to the ground, "Phew," Emma rubbed gratefully at her neck as the blood flowed back to the area.

"Really Nico?" Worick exclaimed, "The kid mentions dessert and you let it slide?! Come on man, I just got this shirt after you wrecked the last one!" Nic only shrugged and stuck his tongue out at the taller blond man. Worick stalked off dramatically in front keeping up the offended pretense, Alex winked in her direction as she ran to catch up with him, with all the rain Alex's short dress was almost see through, Alex was great, 'But it doesn't hurt to wear some warmer clothes once in a while, winter has already started,' Emma sighed slightly, she hadn't talked much to Alex, but she just felt so plain standing next to her, not that appearances bothered her, however Worick made enough comparisons between them. Nic grabbed her ear and started walking away with her in tow, "Owww, Nic let go!" she pleaded running to catch up with him, aiming a couple of punches at his side since he was deliberately looking away, a grin spread across his face.

Finally, back in the warmth of the apartment/handyman office, Emma stood in the living room shivering in her wet clothes a small puddle spreading out around her bare feet. "Achoo!" she sneezed, just then she felt a towel drop on her head, looking up she saw Nic standing next to her, it still surprised her that they were the same height, most of the time she felt really small standing next to him. "Thanks Nic," she replied toweling her hair dry, he grunted then pointed to her wet clothes, 'He's probably wondering why I hadn't changed yet,' she thought to herself, it was getting easier to read Nic's moods but it was taking her longer to learn sign language so he usually didn't make too much of an effort to use it with her. "Oh, well you guys were using all the rooms to change and ..." Emma let her head hang down, "I washed all my clothes yesterday and it's all still drying." The truth was only small things like socks and underwear had dried off so far but it was too embarrassing to say that directly, plus with all the rain it was hard to get things dry hanging them inside.

Nic rolled his eyes and went back to his room, after searching around he found a black tshirt and some cargo pants, they were far too big but at least they were dry, 'The kid has probably already caught a cold though, walking straight into a puddle like that!' Walking back out, he dumped the clothes in Emma's arms and jerked a thumb towards his room, nodding in understanding she signed back "thank you". He walked off in search of something to drink, letting a small smile spread across his face once the kid was out of sight, her signing was improving at least, both her and Alex were making an effort, a clumsy effort but still not many people apart from Worick and Nina bothered to use his preferred method of communication.

Emma dried off quickly, gratefully pulling on the dry clothes, they were far too big but they were warm, she took in a deep breath, the clothes smelled like him, strong, manly with the light scent of soap, blushing at the ridiculous thought she quickly unclipped the sword from the belt using it to keep up the trousers. Gathering up the sword, wet towel, and clothes she quickly escaped Nic's room almost tripping over the long trousers, dumping the wet things by the living room window for the moment she gratefully sank into the sofa as the rain continued to batter against the window.

Nic entered the kitchen yawning, hoping to find some food before Worick eventually got out of bed, to find Emma standing by the sink. Nic walked over searching for some bread to put in the toaster, looking over at the kid he saw she was just staring at the wall, the glass in her hand overflowing with water from the tap still flowing, he turned off the tap but Emma still just stood there sighing he flicked her in the ear to get her attention. Emma jumped nearly dropping the glass, a lot of the water spilling over, she finally looked over at him, "Oh morning Nic," placing the glass on the counter she wiped the one that had been under the tap on her trousers, "nice weath-" her comment was cut off in a fit of coughing, after it ended she made a face of disgust swallowing the phelgm that had come from the back of her throat.

Nic reached out a hand to her forehead but Emma ducked away out of reach, "I'm fine Nic honest," she said irritated, wiping away the cold sweat from her burning brow, honestly she felt horrendous but she kept telling everyone she was fine, despite the cold plaguing her for over two weeks. She'd even started avoiding the Doctor's clinic for errands since everyone kept badgering her over the past couple of days, she shivered despite the warmth in the kitchen, 'I just have to sweat out the fever, then I'll be fine, no point in wasting the doctor's time, besides I don't want to owe the guys anything,' Emma had enough money with her, plus they barely let her contribute to buying household necessities at any rate, it was hard enough making sure they didn't give her any of the money from the jobs she helped with.

A sudden wave of dizziness came over her, the glass landed noisily on the table and she gripped the edge to remain upright, Nic didn't turn around at the noise, although sometimes it was almost like he could hear turning around at slight noises, but Emma was sure he just sensed it in some other way. Taking a few deep breaths to steady herself she tried to pick up the glass but it slipped through her fingers smashing on to the floorboards, the floor swam before her eyes rushing up to meet her.

Nic stood buttering the toast he'd made, when he felt the floorboards vibrate underneath his feet, he spun around his face tensed as he found Emma lying on the floor. He ran over to her ignoring the shards of broken glass nearby, the skin of her forehead burned like a raging fire against the back of his hand. Her breathing was quick but shallow occasionally interrupted by weak coughing and wheezing. Nic quickly scooped up the unconscious girl into his arms slicing his hand and feet on the broken glass, opening the window he jumped the two storeys to the ground running off in the direction of Doc Theo's.

The rain had finally stopped, not that Nic noticed, his feet pounded the ground leaving drops of blood behind, the normally short trip to Doc Theo's seemed to take forever. Glancing down at the unconscious girl in his arms his expression tensed, she seemed a lot worse than when he'd left the appartment, she was white as a sheet, her skin as cold as ice apart from her burning forehead. Nic tightened his hold on her and increased his pace, "Idiot, should've said something, nothing but trouble since she arrived," though he wouldn't have admitted it, Nic had grown fond of her, she was handy with that sword of hers and could be pretty funny, even if it wasn't on purpose, things had certainly gotten livelier since the kid and Alex had arrived on the scene. He didn't like change, it was much easier when it was only him and Worick. As Emma shook in his arms, trembling from the fever, images of Veronica flashed across his mind, the Celebrer poisoning had left her unable to speak and barely move, "It can't happen again," he thought resolutely, even though the more logical part of his brain was still telling him it was impossible, Emma isn't a Twilight and she isn't Veronica, they were so different, yet their willful independence was similar, Veronica had hidden the extent of her Celebrer poisoning for as long as she could too.

The door rocked on its hinges as Nic's foot slammed into it, nobody appeared to be downstairs, it was still early in the morning and Nina mustn't have made it in yet, plus the doctor had never been a morning person like a certain flatmate of his, growing frustrated Nic shouted out: "DOCTOR!"

Nic waited impatiently, unable to hear the clattering from upstairs, and was about to call the doctor again, as the doctor emerged into the main room of the clinic, "What the HELL NICOLAS!" Theo shouted angrily still struggling to button up his shirt, white coat forgotten on its peg. Then he took in the scene before him, Nicolas sweating from exertion holding the newest stray of the Handymen in his arms, he could her wheezing from the other side of the room, "Put her down on the bed," he ordered and Nicolas quickly obeyed but stayed close to the bedside. The doctor bustled around the room grabbing his stethoscope and other equipment, "What happened Nicolas?" his voice was calm intent on his work, barely looking up to see the reply.

"She just collapsed this morning. We knew she had a cold but I didn't think it was this bad." Nic frantically signed the reply, struggling to keep his face impassive, but the doctor noticed a few mistakes in the signing, "Nicolas never gets it wrong, it must have been a shock," the doctor thought as Nina walked in.

"Hi Dr. Theo I stopped by at the market on my way here-" Nina stopped midsentence noticing the activity around the bed and ran over, "Nico!" she cried in surprise seeing him stood close to the bed, then she noticed the figure lying there, "Emma! What happened?" her voice verged on tears.

"Nina get the keys to the drug cabinet and find some fluids, I'll need them if I can get this blasted line in," the doctor ordered sharply bringing Nina back to her senses, switching to nurse mode she brushed the tears aside and ran off to find what he needed, the doctor cursed loudly as he struggled to find any vein to insert the needle in. He breathed a sigh of relief, "Finally," he muttered as the needle found a vein and taped it down as Nina returned with a bag of fluids struggling to hang it on the drip stand, Nic silently took it from her and hung it up. "Now get him out of here he's too distracting," the doctor motioned to Nic who looked a little panicked.

"Come on Nic," Nina tugged on his arm but was unable to make him move, "Dr Theo has it under control." She reassured him but he wouldn't move a muscle, his eyes trained on Emma, she was still breathing rapidly but it looked like the shivering had lessened slightly.

"Move now Nicolas or I'll kick you out myself and won't let you back until evening," the doctor glanced up the light glinting menacingly off his glasses, Nicolas finally let Nina drag him out the cubicle, apart from Gina the doctor was the only other person who frightened Nicolas, even if just a little.

Nic stood by the wall incessantly tapping his fingers against the desk, the wait seemed to drag out interminably, "I should have brought her here sooner, none of us noticed how she'd avoided this place," he thought, it was true usually Emma jumped at the chance to do errands for the clinic but over the past week she'd kept saying she was busy or went off on one of the other jobs. Seeing Nina exit the curtain he took a step forward signing "Will she be alright?"

Nina smiled gently signing back, "Of course she will be, the Doctor said it was a bad infection but she should be better in a few days. Nic let out the breath he'd been holding, leaning back on the wall, "Nic!" Nina cried out aloud "You're bleeding!" Nic grunted in confusion then noticed the blood seeping out from beneath his feet and dripping from one of his hands.

"Keep it down Nina," the doctor whispered urgently, turning to Nic he said, "you can go sit with her if you want, she's very ill but she won't die, the kids tough, but a couple more days and it could have been a lot worse, and for Christ sake Nic stop bleeding onto my floor, it's all you ever do here. Nina take care of him, I'm dying for a smoke." Theo grabbed his cigarettes and walked outside the clinic, closing the door behind him.

Nic breezed past Nina to stand by the bedside, Nina brought in a chair making him sit down, "Let me look at those cuts Nico," he surrendered up his bleeding hand to Nina and gently held Emma's hand in the other, it wasn't as cold as before but it still trembled slightly. After Nina was done bandaging his hand and feet, he sat there in silence, 'She shouldn't be left alone like this, besides Nina and the doctor will get busy, someone should be here just in case,' he convinced himself, letting the seconds tick by. Emma stirred slightly murmuring feverishly, Nic gently ran his thumb over the back of her hand until she grew still again.

After an hour or so the doctor came back in and put another needle in the back of her hand, Nic tightened his grip on the girl's hand as she twitched in her sleep at the pain, Theo glanced at Nicolas before sighing and leaving him alone. He restlessly tapped his foot against the floor but a dull ache built up in it from cutting his feet on the glass, lost in thought he startled back to reality when a hand touched his shoulder.

"Hey partner," Worick appeared, "time to get to work," Nic just shook his head and pointed to his barefeet. "Come on man you can go back and get shoes, we need the cash, a lot of deliveries to do today."

"Alex can help," Nic signed back impatiently.

Worick shook his head, his long blond hair hitting Nic in the face, "But it's so much to do, besides old man Monroe likes it better when you're there, he doesn't give a toss about me," Nic just pouted and turned his face away, "fine do what you want, but Dr Theo said there was nothing you could do here, have it your way then." Worick left the clinic shooting Nic a concerned look, it wasn't like him to get so bothered by something like this.

Nic started slightly as Nina walked into the cubicle, she smiled and went to check the line in Emma's other hand, detaching it from the drugs, a small creased appeared between her eyebrows as she looked at Emma's hand. "What's wrong?" Nic signed but Nina just shook her head and walked back out, he leaned forward in the chair to peek out the gap in the curtains.

Nina was talking to the doctor, "The area around the IV is looking inflamed."

Theo cursed quietly, "It'll have to come out, I can put another one in later at any rate."

Nic snorted in annoyance as Theo walked in, glaring at him while he signed, "Nina said there was nothing wrong."

Theo shrugged "Technically there isn't," Nic raised his eyebrows cynically, sticking his tongue out at the taller man. "Nicolas you have to calm down, you sitting here stressing does no one any good. Nina thought Emma's hand looked at little red, it's probably nothing but I'd rather take out the line now and put in a new one later than have another infection developing." Nic nodded and relaxed slightly letting the doctor go about his work, "By the way Alex came by with shoes for you and clothes for the kid, told her it might be best not to disturb you though."

Nic grunted in response, 'That's probably best,' he thought, while he was indifferent most of the time he didn't want to snap at Alex either. Emma murmured in her sleep, shivering as Theo removed the needle from the back of her hand, she coughed weakly a few times before settling down again. Nic watched her face intensely but her mumbling was too soft for him to make out anything intelligible, "Nic," he saw his name form soundlessly on her lips, squeezing her hand even tighter he continued his silent vigil watching for any sign of her waking, or getting worse.

Emma winced at the bright lights overhead and quickly squeezed her eyes shut again, everything, every muscle, every joint in her body ached, she groaned slightly 'I never want to move again,' she thought, the hard mattress beneath her was unforgiving and the blanket covering her felt a bit scratchy. Gradually becoming more aware of her surroundings Emma felt something warm around her right hand, "Is somebody holding my hand?" Emma wondered, the hand holding hers was large and comforting even though the skin was rough. Slowly she turned her head towards the person holding her hand, every muscle screamed even at this small movement, gently opening her eyes squinting at the bright lights, her eyes gradually adjusted to the light Emma noticed an IV line running into her arm with fluids hung up near the head of the bed. Letting her gaze wander to the owner of the hand she found Nic sleeping in one of the clinic's hard chairs, his chin resting on his chest, "Nic," she croaked out, her throat as parched as a desert, then mentally sighed at her stupidity, "Of course he can't hear me, he can't hear anything," a small laugh escaped her but it quickly turned in to a weak coughing fit. He looked so cute and innocent sleeping like that, it was hard to believe that he possessed the type of strength he did, Emma managed to sit up very slowly and painfully trying not to disturb the grip Nic had on her hand, she took the blanket covering her and gently draped it over Nic's sleeping form, carefully avoiding her IV. "I must be at Doctor Theo's," she thought, this was confirmed in the next moment as Nina walked through the curtain.

"You're awake!" she cried happily rushing over, "but you shouldn't be sitting up yet!" Nina admonished her completely in nurse mode. Emma quickly shushed her, it was all she could do with the little energy she had, placing a finger to her lips then pointing at the sleeping figure of Nic, "It's not like we can wake him up by shouting," the younger girl replied in a whisper indulging the patient. "Well if you have to sit up then at least lean back on some pillows," Nina gave in, when it looked like Emma would refuse to lie down again, arranging an extra pillow behind her so she could sit back, Emma shivered slightly now that her blanket was covering Nic. Nina leaned in to check her temperature, "Your fever is still pretty high," she murmured, "Say 'Ah'" Emma obediently held the thermometer in her mouth swallowing the urge to yawn. "Let me get Doc Theo."

Emma sighed leaning back on the pillows, she was so tired it was difficult to keep her eyes open, she squeezed Nic's hand and to her surprise he returned the pressure. Looking up she saw that Nic was blinking the sleep out of his eyes, "He looks really cute right now, I wonder what he was like as a kid," she mused, glad that even if she blushed then it would be put down to the fever. As he noticed her awake he sat up straighter in his chair and leaned in closer, he opened his mouth to say something as the doctor walked in.

"You gave us a bit of a scare there kid," Dr. Theo said walking into the cubicle, "how're you feeling?" He took the thermometer out of her mouth, then frowned as he saw the reading. Nic leaned over and quickly tucked the blanket back around Emma.

Emma narrowed her eyes slightly, bit of a stupid question, 'I woke up in a mini hospital how do you think I feel?' but instead she replied, "Like I got run over by a bus," an awkward silence followed, those two have no sense of humour, so she added; "Just kidding thirsty, hungry, a little tired I guess," she winced at the sound of her scratchy voice.

"Well I'm sure we can sort that, Nina go see if have something," Theo patted Nina on the head affectionately, the doctor seemed to be tough and closed off but it was obvious that he cared for Nina and his local patients. "Looks like you came down with pneumonia, pretty bad too, it was a good thing Nic brought you in when he did, you should've come in sooner," the doctor scolded her harshly now that Nina was out of the room. Nic started signing rapidly, briefly letting go of her hand, at the doctor but Emma was too tired to keep up with what he was saying, the doctor sighed replying, "I don't care what she said, if you thought it was that bad you should have dragged her here before it got to this stage," turning back to her he added, "Look you were so ill when you got here I could only get in the one IV to run fluids to rehydrate you and I was lucky to get that one in, I managed to get one in your other hand long enough to run a dose of antibiotics through, but less than two hours later it was the surrounding area was inflamed so I had to take it back out. I wanted to give your veins more of a chance to refill but I need to put in another one for the antibiotics alright? "

Emma could tell it was more of an order than a request but she nodded along anyway too tired to protest and glad that Theo didn't treat her like too much of an idiot. She'd spent a few afternoons helping out in the clinic surprising him with her level of medical training, "So I'll be stuck here for the next few days then, how long was I out?"

"It'll be a week if you're lucky, it's been about twelve hours. Twelve hours I've had to put up with this lump taking up space and scaring off patients, he made a right racket bringing you in here, see if you can get rid of him will ya?" The doctor pointed at Nic then stepped out of the cubicle again.

"You were here the whole time?" She asked tilting her head towards Nic, he nodded a little bashfully, Emma squeezed Nic's hand a little tighter, "thanks Nic, I really appreciate it, I'm sorry to cause you all this trouble." She looked down at her lap trying to prevent the tears that threatened to spill over, a warm hand ruffled her hair tentatively, she forced a smile onto her face and aimed it at Nic, but for the first time noticed the bandage on his right hand. "What happened?" Emma asked pointing to the bandage.

Nic sighed before saying one word; "Glass."

A frown settled on Emma's face, the glass of water must have fell when I collapsed she thought, "I'm really sorry Nic." But Nic just shook his head and handed her a bag with some clean clothes. "Thanks, but what about work? Doesn't Worick need you?" Nic's face screwed itself up at the mention of Worick confirming that he hadn't left the clinic all day. "Nic I'll be fine with some sleep, so go back and get to work, Nina will stop me from getting bored or from trying to escape this joint," she joked but Nic still looked reluctant as he eventually got up to leave. Without thinking Emma grabbed onto his hand tightly, Nic slowly turned back around, she bit her lip not exactly sure what to say, "Um come back tomorrow, if you aren't busy that is."

Nic plopped a hand down on her head, with a straight face he said; "Maybe, you talk in your sleep too much, it was pretty noisy," Emma blushed all the way to her ears and began spluttering, Nic chuckled silently ruffling her hair, before reluctantly leaving. 'Of course I'll come back tomorrow, the idiot,' he said to himself, leaning on the wall outside the clinic for a few moments enjoying the cool night breeze to collect his thoughts before heading to meet Worick for their job tonight.

After Nicolas had left the clinic Nina came back with orange juice and biscuits, while Dr Theo came back with a medical tray, "You know Alex stopped by earlier with those clothes and Worick came to drag him off to a job but Nicolas refused to leave both times, it's rare to see him take such an interest in someone." Emma shrugged in response watching the Doctor's every move as he prepared to insert the cannula into the back of her hand, raising the glass of orange juice shakily to her lips, Nina watching her to make sure she didn't drop the glass, the juice was heaven to her parched throat, and she quickly put down the glass and began to nibble on a biscuit. "Looks like your veins have come back to life, this might hurt," she tried to relax as she felt the sharp scratch of the needle, it stung but it wasn't as bad as the aching in the rest of her muscles, once the cannula was in place the doctor wrapped gauze around it to keep it in place and began setting up the antibiotics. "All set, now get some rest kid," the doctor said but Emma was already sound asleep the nibbled biscuit hanging loosely in her hand.

"Now you have to take one three times a day for the next five days, and for pity's sake swing by if you start feeling unwell again okay kid?" Dr Theo looked sternly at Emma sitting in front of him, after a week of being stuck in the clinic she was itching to leave, he'd already told her the instructions five times that morning, she nodded impatiently. Theo finally handed over a small bottle of pills, it read amoxicillin, it was a pretty common antibiotic she'd had it before so at least she wasn't allergic, "Alright you're all set to go, just take it easy for a while."

"Honestly Doc I'll be fine," Emma reassured him, "fit as a fiddle," the past week had been torture, she'd started feeling a lot better after the first day or two but the doctor had insisted that she stay, the most strenuous thing she'd been allowed to do was read a book. "I can't wait to go outside again," she sighed staring wistfully out the window.

Nina laughed and joined her at the window, "You still need to wait on someone coming to get you."

"Aw come on!" Emma moaned "I'm totally fine I could walk back myself, I definitely know my way back from here, I don't need a babysitter." She pouted as she continued staring out the window.

"No." Theo's refusal was short but absolute, "You could get sick again, and it'll be more of a pain if you collapsed alone in the street." Emma stuck out her tongue at him when he wasn't looking, the boredom had gotten worse over the last two days, even though Worick and Alex stopped by they didn't usually stop for long, the days just stretched out with the normal clinic going on around her, it was a lot more tedious when she wasn't allowed to help. When she had time Nina practiced sign language with her, it really helped, she was a good teacher, but it was best when Nic stopped by for a few hours in the afternoon or evening, she felt bad since at the beginning of the week she would often nod off while he was there, or when anyone else dropped by for that matter.

Eventually she saw a figure walking down the street, the sword he carried was the biggest giveaway to his identity, Emma felt a smile tug at the corner of her lips,"Finally freedom," she thought, then aloud she added, "Nic's here," and made to dash out of the door.

A hand caught her collar refusing to let her out of the door, "Not a chance, the handyman has to come inside," Theo's voice ordered, Emma stopped struggling, sighing as she itched to get out of the clinic. A few impossibly long moments later the clinic's door swung open to admit Nic his suit slightly disheveled but for once there were no bloodstains.

"I can go now right?" She pleaded dying to feel the sun and wind on her skin, typically the weather had been beautiful while she had been stuck in the clinic even if it was still a bit cold.

"Not yet," Theo sighed irritably, he had grown just as frustrated with Emma's boredom as she had, all she had done since she'd felt well enough was annoy him to either let her leave or do work around the clinic. "Listen up handyman," ignoring the giggles from the girls and the slight smirk from Nic at the irony, "any sign of a fever, cough, sniffle you bring that kid back here, and make sure she takes the pills I don't need that bed occupied for another week."

Nic nodded seriously, "Don't worry I'll keep an eye on her," he signed then motioned for Emma to follow him, she basically skipped out of the door after him calling; "Hope I don't see you too soon!" she winked.

She stretched out gratefully, enjoying the little warmth the sun provided, "It's so nice to be outside again." They walked along in silence for a while until Nic noticed that Emma wasn't at his side anymore, looking back in worry he saw her trying to catch up, despite being so cheery she looked a bit tired.

Nic sighed and walked back towards her, 'Must've set off too quickly,' he thought, she's such a pain,' reaching her he picked her up easily, setting her atop his shoulders, Emma squealed in surprise quickly grabbing onto the collar of Nic's shirt to steady herself. 'She feels lighter than before,' Nic noted worriedly, better not let her do too much for the next couple of weeks, though he could imagine the protests that would throw up.

Emma settled on Nic's shoulders enjoying the wind blowing through her hair, "Maybe it won't be too bad letting myself be spoiled a little longer."


End file.
